Page 63 of Hunted Obsession

His words sound so callous, and maybe I should care because he could be saying the same things about me. I’m sure he is to Emmie. He won’t even admit it, but I know he’s, without a doubt, saying something. Because she clearly wants me gone.

“And if you never get finished with whatever it is you are doing?” I ask.

It’s a possibility.

I know it is.

Whatever it is that he’s doing, he has been on this journey for a while, along with the rest of his men. I don’t want to be locked up in this condo forever. Safe from the outside world, but not with him. Theron owns me, and if he stays with Emmie, visiting me only when he’s able, it will eventually kill me.

“I’ll finish it, sweetheart. Swear to fuck,” he grinds out before he squeezes his hands around my waist and lowers his head down to meet mine.

I want to believe him. I love him, and I want to believe everything he’s saying to me. I want him to confess his love for me again, to ask me to marry him, to live happily ever after, but I don’t know if it will ever happen. It’s a dream, a pipe dream, and nothing more. I need to accept these bits and pieces he’s giving me because a year ago, this would have been a dream come true.

Instead of asking him for any details, I lift my hands, cupping his cheeks before I touch my lips to his. The future be damned. I need the present. I’ll worry about everything else sometime tomorrow.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

THERON

LeavingLucille alone again is not what I intended. After fucking her last night, I had plans to stay and talk to her about the future. The purchase has gone through, everything is set, and she’s been bought and paid for. Granted, I wasn’t planning on telling her that part, just that she was safe to go home, pack her shit, and move into my place.

But I didn’t get to do that because Emmie, Charlie, and Asher had other ideas. They’ve fucked up my plans once again. Leaving the safe house, I send Vaughn a text that I’m gone and to keep an eye on things because they are heating up.

Making my way down to the Willow Club, I’m surprised to see that the club is still in full swing. At least, that’s the way the full parking lot appears. It’s well after three in the morning, and legally, they should be closed.

Instead of getting out of my car immediately, I grip the steering wheel and close my eyes for a moment. When I do, a memory pops into my head. One that I thought I’d forgotten about. One that happened years ago.

Sitting in front of her apartment, I can’t help but wonder if I’m doing the right thing by staying. She loves me. She’s said as much not only to my face but also when she thinks I’m asleep. She doesn’t realize that sleep doesn’t come to me the way that it does to regular people.

When you have to keep one eye open for over ten years to watch your back, you can never be in a deep sleep state. Opening the door, I unfold from the car before I straighten and head toward her.

Slipping my key into the lock, I unlock it and walk into the apartment. Closing the door behind me, I flip the lock in place before I lift my head, and that’s when I see her. Lucille’s back is to me. She’s wearing a pair of panties and a tank top, nothing else.

Without a word, she slowly turns around to face me. When her eyes meet mine, my fucking breath is stolen from my body. I may not be able to tell her with words that I love her, but I do. Every piece of me. She makes me want to lose the control that I hold so deeply.

“I didn’t know if you were coming over tonight,” she whispers.

I’m not sure what to say, so I just grunt before I toss my keys into the bowl by the front door. Moving toward her, I slowly strip my clothes off. When I stop just a few feet away from her, I’m completely naked. Her breathing has sped up to short pants. Her eyes focused on my cock. I watch as her tongue slowly slides across her bottom lip.

“Can’t get enough of you, sweetheart,” I rasp.

Her gaze flicks up to meet mine, and she shakes her head once as if she doesn’t believe my words. I’m not sure that she should.I’ve been totally fucking checked out, trying to decide if I should go or stay. No, I take that back. I know that I need to leave, but I’m selfish as fuck.

“Can’t you?” she asks. “You don’t call me anymore,” she rasps.

Reaching out, I curl my fingers around the side of her neck before I slide my thumb up and down the center of her throat. I don’t call her anymore. My contact has been this. Coming over to fuck and sleep.

“What do you want from me?” I ask.

I shouldn’t have asked at all.

“Everything, Theron. I want now, and I want the future.”

It’s over.

I can’t give her the future and I know that she needs that. It’s going to be someone else to give it to her though. The selfish asshole that I am is going to take the last time and savor every fucking second of it.

Leaning forward, I touch my mouth to hers and slip my tongue inside of her—tasting her one last time. Releasing her throat, I reach around and grab ahold of her ass, picking her up off the floor before I carry her to the bed so that I can fully savor every last second of this moment together.

---